Postgraduate (12 months, 15 months full-time, part-time)
September, January
Intermediate award: PG Cert
Course duration: 1 year full-time, 2 years part-time
Apply directly to ARU
Whether you want to join the traditional publishing industry, establish your own small press or set up a single-author imprint for your own novels, this fully-customisable course will prepare you for work in these increasingly entwined growth industries.
Find out more about teaching options and studying during COVID-19 in the Entry requirements section, below.
Our MA Creative Writing and Publishing will prepare you for employment in whichever aspect of the writing and publishing industries most interests you. Throughout the course, you will develop many transferable academic and professional skills, including self-reflection, critical analysis, and working to briefs and deadlines, as well as the research skills necessary for producing creative works, professional publishing documents and critical writing.
Many of our previous MA Creative Writing students have achieved successful careers in publishing or writing, including Costa Short Story winner 2019 Caroline Ward Vine; Guinevere Glasfurd (winner of The Times 'Book of the Month' for her debut novel The Words In My Hand); Penny Hancock (Tideline; The Darkening Hour) and Natalya Anderson (winner of the Bridport Prize for Poetry 2014).
Our MA Publishing graduates also have a track record of success, with most now in publishing-related careers at companies such as Bloomsbury, Wiley Capstone, Pearson, Cambridge University Press and Macmillan.
You might also decide to move on to a research degree after graduating, such as our PhD Creative Writing or PhD Publishing.
Modules are subject to change and availability.
You will be assessed using methods that allow you to demonstrate the learning outcomes essential for your professional development. Depending on the module, these could include traditional essays, creative work (usually accompanied by a critical commentary) or publishing-specific forms such as book proposals and marketing plans.
Using our creative expertise and industry connections in Cambridge and beyond, we create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
At Cambridge School of Creative Industries, we believe in the importance of experimentation and risk-taking to create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
Whether writing bestselling fiction, creating challenging documentaries or sharing a piano with people on the autism spectrum, the expertise of our staff goes far beyond teaching. Their research produces significant funding success, leading to important publications and international conferences.
Our campus is close to the centre of Cambridge, often described as the perfect student city.
You will be able to take part in all the events arranged for our MA Creative Writing and MA Publishing students, such as guest lectures, masterclasses and work placements. You can also attend all our publishing short courses for a discounted fee.
£9,200
£4,600
£14,500
£7,250
The part-time course fee assumes that you're studying at half the rate of a full-time student (50% intensity). Course fees will be different if you study over a longer period. All fees are for guidance purposes only.
You can pay your fees upfront, in full or in instalments – though you won't need to pay until you've accepted an offer to study with us.
How to pay your fees directlyYou can pay your fees upfront, in full or in two instalments. We will also ask you for a deposit of £4,000 or a sponsorship letter. Details will be in your offer letter.
Paying your feesIt’s important to decide how to fund your course before applying. Use our finance guide for postgraduate students to learn more about postgraduate loans and other funding options.
We offer a fantastic range of ARU scholarships and bursaries, which provide extra financial support while you're at university.
As well as a number of scholarships, we offer an early payment discount. Explore your options:
After you’ve submitted your online application form we’ll also ask you to supply a writing portfolio, consisting of 2,000 to 3,000 words of your recent writing. This will ideally include some fiction. You may choose to submit a single short story, an extract from a larger work such as a novel, or a collection of shorter pieces, such as a few poems, a segment of a feature-length screenplay, and a piece of flash fiction.
Whether you're studying entirely online or through a blend of face-to-face and online learning in September 2020, you'll need a computer and reliable internet access to successfully engage with your course. Before starting the course, we recommend that you check our technical requirements for online learning.
Due to the national lockdown all universities in England, including ARU, are only able to provide face to face teaching on campus for a limited number of courses.
In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic all our students can choose to either study face to face on campus or online only, and students are able to change their mode of delivery at given dates throughout the trimester.
For on-campus teaching, we offer at least four hours face-to-face teaching related contact time per week for our undergraduate full-time courses, supported by online learning using our established online learning systems. The number of contact hours vary course by course, and you can contact us for further information. The provision offered is subject to change due to the possibility of further Government restrictions, however we remain committed to delivering face-to-face teaching and ensuring a COVID-19 secure environment.
In the event that there are further changes to the current restrictions that are in place due to the pandemic, we may need to move some courses online only at short notice to remain in line with Government guidelines and ensure the continued safety of our students and staff.
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